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10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/James Monroe.md

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+---
+category: "Intelligence & Government"
+tags:
+  - Person
+  - CIA
+  - MKULTRA
+  - SocietyForTheInvestigationOfHumanEcology
+summary: "Air Force Lieutenant Colonel who succeeded Harold Wolff as director of the CIA-fronted Society for the Investigation of Human Ecology and supervised its behavioral research grant program."
+location: Washington, D.C.
+created: 2026-06-03
+updated: 2026-06-03
+---
+Lieutenant Colonel James Monroe had worked closely with the [[CIA]] as head of the Air Force's study of [[Korean War]] prisoners before the Agency hired him to run the [[Society for the Investigation of Human Ecology]] after its formal separation from [[Cornell University Medical College|Cornell]] in 1957. Monroe led a staff of four whose salaries the Agency paid, taking over the Society's dealings with the outside world and the monitoring of several hundred thousand dollars a year in research projects.[^1]
+
+### Running the Human Ecology Society
+
+Monroe personally supervised dozens of grants, including [[D. Ewen Cameron]]'s brainwashing work in Montreal. The Society had moved from its Manhattan town house to Forest Hills, Queens, and Monroe managed the transition from a Cornell-affiliated study group to an independent foundation that could approach academics anywhere in the world. When granting money, Monroe used a standard cover story, telling recipients the funds came from rich New York doctors and Texas millionaires who gave it for tax purposes. Dr. [[Carolyn Sherif]], who received a grant with her husband [[Muzafer Sherif]] for teenage gang research, states that Monroe lied directly to them about the source of the money.[^1]
+
+Monroe's role was to maintain the Society's legitimacy while ensuring that [[MKULTRA]] interests were served. [[Sidney Gottlieb|Sid Gottlieb]] and the [[TSS]] hierarchy in Washington made the major decisions, but Monroe managed day-to-day operations, visited grant recipients, and kept track of developments in the behavioral sciences. He let [[Carl Rogers]] know that once he agreed to serve on the Society board, he could expect a grant, and Rogers received about $30,000 over three years. Monroe's operation gave the CIA a "legitimate basis to approach anyone in the academic community anywhere in the world," as one Agency source put it.[^1]
+
+### Footnotes
+
+[^1]: John D. Marks, *The Search for the Manchurian Candidate*, Chapter 9.